


blue and red and every color in between

by Spoilxr



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Agni Kai (Avatar), Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, The Last Agni Kai (Avatar), anyway zuko deserves healing powers, credit to bae in summary, first fic on here btw, i love them more than anything, is this Hurt/Comfort???, lowkey scared, okay anyway enjoy atla fandom, pls be nice, so yes it is, thank u oomf for suggesting that, well writing this hurt but then comforted me, zutara brainrot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:48:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29689746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spoilxr/pseuds/Spoilxr
Summary: It is Katara who is hit with lightning at the final Agni Kai, and Zuko who heals her.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 104





	blue and red and every color in between

**Author's Note:**

> FIRST OFF, without @foIkIorestyled on twitter, i never would’ve sat down and wrote this!  
> she suggested zuko using his fire bending to heal katara in a tweet, and after speeding home from work (may or may not have been screaming phoebe bridgers and talking to myself the entire ride home) i sat down on my bathroom floor, opened my google docs app, and wrote like a mad woman.  
> thank you so much to her for coming up with this headcanon, and being willing to beta the first zk thing i’ve actually finished and decided to share. go send some love and appreciation her way!!
> 
> secondly, please be gentle, as this is the first thing i’ve published since the percabeth fic that got 14k reads on wattpad (famous,,, i know) that i wrote in fifth grade. so, keep your criticism as kind as you can muster, because a mf is sensitive. 
> 
> lastly, feel free to follow my twitter, @crystlcatacmbs , and my tumblr, @pennyisnotwise !!! i love you all so much, and really hope you enjoy!

Katara has always loved blue.

It’s the color that reminds her of her home, a cold and barren, but beautiful place. The color she associates with her mother. The color of her family’s eyes. 

It’s the color that makes her feel calm, the color that reminds her of her identity and her element and all she loves. 

Katara has always loved blue.

But now, as it surges at her in a blinding and jagged streak, white hot and making her see red…

Well, Katara doesn’t love blue as much at that moment.

Zuko moves fast, fast as the flames that he can conjure at a moments notice spread, fast as a sky bison soaring past clouds, a group of friends, a family on his back.

But, Zuko is not fast enough. 

The pain hits her, and Katara, for a second, hates blue.

At first, it’s like a solid blow to the chest. One of the pillars of earth Toph shoots up in defiance when she tells her to clean up after herself. It knocks the wind out of her. It knocks everything out of her.

Katara feels herself catapult through the air, and then she feels nothing but agony.

She hits the ground, skidding across it. She is faintly aware she’s twitching, and her entire body begins to sting.

It’s hot, like millions of pins and needles sticking into her over and over and over again. All she can do is uselessly gasp.

Her ears are ringing and everything is blurry and she suddenly cannot move. Things go black, and then flash back to life again, and then go black again. She fades in and out, hot tears burning her eyes.

Katara looks up at the sky, and sees red. She thinks it’s sort of cruel, that she must stare into the color so opposite of her favorite.

Red isn’t bad either, though. Red is warm and reminds her of traveling around villages, painting her face and saving who she could. Red reminds her of the cave she danced in. Red is the liquid that Sokka and Suki stole from a bag of her dad’s that kept her up all night laughing and singing and gave her a headache in the morning. Red is campfires, surrounded by friends who swap stories of war and horror, but also of the happiest moments of their lives.

Red is Zuko, Zuko who tried to save her and couldn’t.

Zuko who she loathed and understood and loathed again until she finally forgave him.

Zuko who helped her with dishes and mending, Zuko who helped her heat her tea, Zuko who could recite old plays line for line, Zuko who was awkward and self deprecating and needlessly patient and kind. 

Zuko who had never expected her to be anything but herself. The parts of her aura that his acrobat friend would say were blue, red, yellow, green, gray, and black- he didn’t care, he’d take any color. 

Zuko who had been an enemy, an ally, a teammate, and finally a friend. A best friend.

Zuko who had never asked anything of her. 

Katara decided that red wasn’t the worst possible color to see.

She thought of her friends, her father, Gran-Gran, Ozai, Azula.

She thought of her mother, she’d see her soon.

Katara sent a silent prayer to Yue that Zuko wouldn’t blame himself, that they’d win the war, and that the world would be a better place by tomorrow.

Katara looked into the red one last time, and closed her eyes.

-

Azula has always been faster and better and more perfect than Zuko. 

Katara’s blue eyes shine brighter than anything he’s even seen before. She’s struck directly in the chest. Zuko is too slow, too unskilled, too foolish.

He lets out a scream that he didn’t know he had in him. He’s crying, but the tears quickly turn to steam when a blast of fire erupts from his mouth. 

Zuko stops thinking for a second, stops screaming, and sends a pillar of flames to Azula.

It’s fast, and it’s not calculated, but it’s powerful and catches her off guard. It’s all the time he needs to rush forward. It’s like he’s on auto pilot, and eventually, Azula hits the ground. 

He’s never made her stumble before, never made her hold her breath or flinch. Now, he watches his sister fall to the ground. 

Her eyes are wide and shocked and hurt and confused and most of all sick, but he doesn’t pay attention to that. 

Zuko hits her leg with a fireball and Azula screams. She clutches for hershin, and in that split second, Zuko punches her straight in the face. She’s out like a light, unconscious, and oddly peaceful.

He’s faintly aware that this is a sort of victory, not just because he’s won the Agni Kai, but because he’s never beat his sister at anything before. He knows it’s just because she’s slipped beyond his reach, but for once, he’s won.

Zuko doesn’t celebrate, though. He turns, and suddenly, he’s crying again, standing and running as fast as he can to the curled up, twitching form of Katara. 

She’s pale, her tunic singed, hair sticking in every direction. 

Still, Katara is hauntingly beautiful, and Zuko turns to the sky and screams.

He’s on the ground next to her, stroking her face and crying and shaking her.

Zuko hasn’t known much love in his lifetime. He had Iroh and Lu Ten and Ursa, and maybe Azula. He tells himself Mai loved him, Ty Lee too, but never has he experienced a love as pure as what Katara gave him, gave everyone.

Zuko thinks he loves her.

Loved her. 

She’s silent, tears on her face, eyes closed. He helplessly shakes her again, pressing his ear to her chest, jumping a bit when he realizes how hot it is.

He loathes his element more than he ever has in that moment.

Still, he presses his scarred and disfigured ear to her chest, and hears nothing.

Katara, the first person other than his uncle and mother to offer him kindness. Katara, who helps everyone, who never gives up.

Who never gave up on him.

Katara, who he knows he drives insane, who is the only person who can keep up with him sparring, who makes him laugh.

Katara, who he thinks of at the most random times and suddenly he’s blushing furiously and pressing his hands to his face and smiling like an idiot.

Katara who inspires him, who helps him, who always has his back.

Katara who is his best friend, his teammate, his guiding light.

Zuko loves her. He will always love her.

He wishes he could bring as much joy and motivation to others like she does. Wishes he could protect others like she does.

Wishes he could heal like she does.

Zuko remembers the stories his uncle told, the stories of the many uses of fire bending, the good it could do.

He looks at Katara, breathes deeply, thinks of how much he loves her. He closes his eyes.

Zuko rubs his hands together, exhales, and presses them to Katara’s chest.

There’s a bright burst of light, he can see the spots through his eyelids. He blinks, dazed.

Then, Zuko hears a gasp, feels a heartbeat, and sees, through the blur of his tears, Katara slowly sitting up.

He moves even faster than he did running to her, tugging her against him and pressing his lips to her forehead. 

“Zuko?”

“Katara.”

“You saved me… you saved me, Zuko. Thank you.”

He pulls back a bit, shaking his head.

“I should be thanking you.”

She cups his cheek, running a delicate finger across his scar, her thumb brushing his lips. 

Suddenly, she kisses him, and Zuko lets out a strangled yelp. She pulls backs, but he tugs her back in, connecting their lips again.

Eventually, they gasp for air, gold eyes meeting blue. Zuko begins to whimper, and Katara’s eyes well with tears, too. She rests her head against his chest.

“We’re okay. We won.” Katara whispers.

“We did. You’re alive.”

“I love you.”

Zuko doesn’t pull back or flinch this time, he just cries harder, pulls her closer to him. 

“I love you, I love you, I love you…” He sobs, and Katara weakly hugs him.

“I love you too.”

-

They are blue and red and every color in between. They are alive. They are together. 

They are stronger than nations and hatred and lightning. 

They are in love.

fin 

☼☾

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! take care, and have a wonderful day/night!
> 
> my twitter is @crystlcatacmbs , and my tumblr is @pennyisnotwise , feel free to follow me if you want to see me scream about zk, stephanie brown and dc comics in general, horror movies, hot people, and everything else i love!


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